Four alleged in torturing man

Islamists continue their sit-in in support of former president Morsi (Photo by Mohamed Omar/DNE/File Photo)

A man claimed that Rabaa Al-Adaweya protesters amputated his finger and tortured him, according to his interview on Tahrir channel on Monday.

The man, who did not reveal his name, stated that as he was going to use the bathroom near Tiba Mall in Nasr City, one of the “ikhwan” grabbed him, asked him what he was doing, and accused him of stealing a cell phone.

The man said thata crowdgathered around him with sticks, until there were about 40 people. He claimed that the group then took him to a room nearby where they detained him and tortured him, adding that they also had stun guns.

He claimed that his detainers were going to cut his hand off, but then a sheikh stepped in and said that cutting off his finger would be enough and that he would be let go. The man stated that the sheikh asked the attackers if they saw him steal anything, but they responded saying that they’re only suspicious of him.

The alleged victim said that one of his captors told him to say that he was being paid by a police officer, but he responded that he had nothing to do with politics. He said thathe was beat up and forced to say that he worked for a police officer, and that he said a name of a random police officer.

The man claimed that he was tortured from 10am till 2am, and that his captors were planning on dropping him off at the New Cairo Police Station or at a hospital.

The man stated that they stopped at a security checkpoint, where the police officer asked the people in the car what they have with them, and they told him they have a thief. The man said that the police officer then took him into the police car, while the police found melee weapons in the car.

The Ministry of Interior released a statement saying that security forces noticed a car parked on the side of the Ring Road at dawn on 15 June, and upon closer inspection found four people standing outside of the car while one person was sitting inside. The statement said that the person’s hands inside the car were tied up, and sustained injuries that included the amputation of his right index finger.

The televised interview with the injured man, however, shows his left hand’s index finger covered in gauze, with his right hand’s fingers mostly unharmed. After being asked by the police, the injured man said that the four others had attacked him while he was at Rabaa Al-Adaweya and cut off his finger, the ministry said. When the four people were confronted with the injured man’s accusations, they stated that while they were at Rabaa Al-Adaweya they caught him stealing someone’s bags so they took him out of the area to drop him off in a desert region, according to the statement.

Mohamed Soudan, a Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) spokesman, said: “No one from the Freedom and Justice Party or the Wasat Party would do something as despicable as this.”

Soudan said that there have been many Egyptians and foreigners that have entered the sit-in that they’ve all been treated with respect.

He added: “These aren’t our manners or our way of dealing with things.”

Soudan said that he doesn’t know who the arrested people are, but that the police can easily accuse them of anything.

Tarek Morsy, another FJP spokesman, denied that anyone’s fingers were cut and said that these are all rumors. He added that no one was arrested from the FJP.

Morsy said: “The media has gotten used to lying. Every day there are 15 new rumors.”

The general prosecution is charging the four men with attempted murder, unlawful detention and torture, and carrying melee weapons without a license, according to state run Al-Ahram.